Welcome to the Family!
by Sapphire-Lynx
Summary: Gohan found a new friend! She's fuzzy, has a tail, and claws... wait a minute, she can talk too?!
1. Chapter 1

One sunny afternoon Gohan was out with his friend Icarus exploring the woods behind his home. It had been about three months since his father Goku had returned to Earth and he was taking a well-deserved break from his training and studies. They headed towards a part of the woods previously unexplored by anyone in the family.

"Icarus, wait up!" Gohan called as he chased the young dragon that was his friend. "Where are you going?" He yelled as he slowly gained on the large reptile. Icarus looked back and gave a dragonish chortle of amusement. The trees slowly grew thicker and closer together as they ran deeper into the forest.

Suddenly, Icarus stopped at a large, redwood-looking tree, which nearly made Gohan smack into his back when he skidded to a stop.

The dragon looked up and slowly flew up to a branch high above the ground. Gohan could see a rather large hollow in the main trunk leading onto the branch from his vantage point on the ground. Icarus was sniffing at the branch when Gohan joined him a few moments later.

"What is it boy?" Gohan asked as he watched his friend examine the branch. The two became absorbed in their task and failed to notice the two glowing bronze eyes staring from the hollow.

Icarus glanced at the hollow once, lost interest and flew down.

Gohan still examined the branch when he was tackled by something as large as him. The thing and he both fell out of the air and Gohan stopped himself mere inches from the forest floor, the thing still hissing and scratching at him. It seemed to be a cross of a human and a cat, much like the genetically enhanced creatures that lived near and in Bulma's hometown. It had the ears, eyes, claws and feet of a cat, and a tail that swished wildly behind. After he had gotten a good look at the creature, he did the only sensible thing.. He unwound his own tail and threw it off.

The cat girl (he could see that now) landed on all fours and started growling menacingly as she paced around him. He took up a cautious fighting stance and watched, waiting for her next move. She went around him again and was about to pounce on him when Icarus came to his rescue. The young dragon leaped in front of her and began to snuffle her. She gave a screech of surprise and clawed frantically back to her hollow.

Gohan and Icarus exchanged a glance, "Um.. Stay here, Icarus. I'll go get my dad." With that, Gohan slowly levitated up and flew back to his house. The cat girl watched warily from her burrow.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey dad! I found something in the woods! I think it's a cat, but it doesn't really look like one. Can you come take a look?"

Goku looked up from his warm ups and said, "Sure son." He followed Gohan back to the tree. Icarus was still watching the hollow when they appeared. Goku pointed up the tree, "In that hollow?" he asked absently, looking up.

"Yeah, be careful dad, she might try to attack you." Gohan warned.

"Don't worry, I will." He levitated up the tree and slowly extended his arm into the hollow. He immediately pulled it out, however, to examine the bright red marks on his hand. "Wow, she's quick." He commented. The girl began to growl in a singsong tone. Goku studied her for a moment, then shot his hand in, grabbed a handful of fabric, and yanked her out. She began to struggle immediately and cried out, "Put me down!"

Both Gohan and Goku started, "Hey, you can talk!"

The girl stopped struggling for a moment, "No duh, Einstein. Now put me down!" She swung half-heartedly at Goku.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Goku asked.

"Yes!"

"..Okay..." He shrugged and let her go; unfortunately, he neglected to mention that he floated about thirty feet above ground. She gave a screech and dug her claws into the main trunk, finally stopping herself almost a quarter of the way down from where she had been dropped. Grumbling and growling to herself, she climbed the rest of the way down tail-first. At the bottom, she came face to face with the boy she had attacked.

"Hi, my name is Gohan, what's yours?" He asked her curiously.

She brushed herself off, "I am called Brenna." She pronounced in child-like superiority.

Gohan cocked his head to the side, "What are you exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

Brenna sniffed, "Well, I would think it'd be obvious, even to a couple of monkeys; but if I must, I'll tell you. I'm a resident of the feline planet of Cougresa. It's on the other side of the galaxy, if you didn't know." She finished smugly, obviously proud of her little speech.

Goku touched down by the two children and scratched his head, "Fine, but you didn't say what your race is called." He commented from behind.

Brenna crossed her arms, "Does it matter?"

"Well no, not really-"

"Then I don't have to tell you." She stuck her little nose high in the air.

Goku exchanged a glance with his son and gave him a slight nod. Gohan nodded imperceptivity back and asked, "Would you like to come home with us?"


	3. Chapter 3

"Would you like to come home with us?"

Her stance faltered slightly in surprise. She looked sidelong at the young Saiyajin. Her eyebrow quirked up and an ear twitched towards him, "After all that I've put you through? Aren't you worried that I might attack you or something?" Her tail tip tapped the ground slowly.

"Naw, you just attacked in self-defense! Plus you have no evil in you." Goku answered, his face as cheerful and open as ever.

Her ears perked up, "Really, how can you tell?" She unconsciously uncrossed her arms.

Goku grinned, "That's easy, I can sense you Ki and see it in your eyes."

Brenna's eyes widened, "Wow! Can you teach me to do that??"

"Sure! But we should probably get home before Chichi gets worried."

"Yeah, mom won't be happy that we ran off either.." Gohan worried.

"Don't worry, son! The worst that could happen is that she refuses to give.. us.. lunch... Uh oh, I forgot to catch some fish at the creek for lunch!" Goku smacked himself. Brenna winced slightly as she watched.

"I can get some fish if you need fish. " She offered hesitantly.

Goku instantly cheered up, "Great! We'll help you catch them.. Ehehe.. We kinda need a lot." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Brenna shrugged, "That's fine. I'm not going swimming though..." She warned, shuddering in spite of herself.

"Okay." Goku shrugged. He teleported them over to the creek behind the house.

Brenna immediately scampered onto a fallen log and got down to business. She watched the stream intently for a moment; then swiped at the water suddenly. A very nice five-pound fish went sailing through the air and onto the bank. She ran after it and clubbed it smartly with a small rock.

"Not bad. But that's only a snack." Goku commented, "Here, I'll show you how big they need to be." He took his shirt off and grabbed a long stick, which he sharpened to a point. He waded till he was in waist-deep water and watched for shadows. A large shape slowly moved up behind him. Brenna had just begun a warning when he spun quickly and stabbed the shape, lifting it into the air in a spray of water. The makeshift weapon bent under the strain of the creature.

"This should be enough for the first course," he announced cheerfully as he tossed the fifty-pound fish high onto the shore. Gohan ran towards it and smashed a fist into its skull. It shuddered and lay still, felled by the concussion of the blow. Brenna stared in shocked amazement at the gargantuan beast and the two Saiyajins.

Gohan looked worriedly over at Goku, "Dad, we need at least two more this size!" He said.

Goku flung another fish, this time a fifty-five pound, onto the bank. "Don't worry! It's about spawning time for these guys right now. There'll be plenty for lunch. Hey, we might even have leftovers this time!"

"MIGHT have leftovers?!" Brenna sat down in shock; she looked over at her fish, and then back at the other fish caught. 'This much fish could feed me for three months, and that's if I feast every day!' she thought to herself.

Goku quickly caught the last fish and he and Gohan flew Brenna back to the house with all the fish in tow.


	4. Chapter 4

_* Arena's name is pronounced: uh-RAY-nuh_

Chichi greeted them outside, "What took you so long Goku? Usually you're back sooner than this..." She caught sight of a long furry tail behind her husband. "Goku! What did you bring back this time? I know you don't have a tail anymore, especially since that one is so bushy." She stuck her hands on her hips and glared sternly at him.

Goku laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, you see Chichi, that's kind of a long story-"

Brenna peeked from behind Goku to stare curiously at Chichi. "Who's that?" She whispered to Gohan, pointing at Chichi.

"That's my mom." Gohan replied.

"She's noisy.. Why doesn't she have a tail like you??" Brenna whispered again.

Gohan looked at her, "Oh, that's because she isn't a Saiyajin."

"A Saiyajin?"

"WHAT?! Goku, you can't keep bringing home strays!" Both children stared at Chichi as she began yelling at Goku again. Goku tried vainly to calm his wife down.

"Hey, what's all the yelling about and what's this about 'strays'?" A sleepy voice from the house said. A young girl stepped out. She looked around and spied Gohan.

"Hey Gohan!" She smiled brightly and walked over, "Who's your friend?"

"Hi Arena, this is Brenna." Gohan said. Brenna's tail tip began to twitch slightly.

Arena stuck out her hand, "Hi! My name is Arena." Brenna looked at her hand quizzically and Arena dropped it hesitantly, "..Um, okay..." She looked down and then back at her, "Did your people all get killed, too?

Brenna's tail stopped twitching for a moment, "No, my ship crashed here and I've been stuck ever since."

In the background, the kids heard Goku finally placate Chichi somewhat. They watched her cross her arms and look away determinedly, "Fine. She can stay, but this is absolutely the last person we can add to the house. We barely have enough room for Arena as it is."

"Thanks Chichi!" Goku gave her a small kiss on the cheek and went inside with the fish.

Gohan and Arena turned to Brenna, "Looks like you'll be living with us now." Gohan replied.

Arena grinned, "This'll be fun!"


End file.
